Patiala: Sadbhawna rally, Nagar Kirtan raise fears of traffic jams

The district will be bursting at the seams on Tuesday as it hosts two mega political and religious events. People fear that life in the district, including the walled city, will be hit by frustrating traffic jams.

Preparations underway for Sadbhawna rally at Aviation club in Patiala on Monday.(Bharat Bhushan/HT Photo)

The district will be bursting at the seams on Tuesday as it hosts two mega political and religious events. People fear that life in the district, including the walled city, will be hit by frustrating traffic jams.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) will be holding its mammoth Sadbhwana rally at the aviation club on the Patiala-Sangrur highway, nearly 6 km from the city.

Nearly 2,000 buses are expected to ferry Akali supporters to the rally. Moreover, ahead of the rally, SAD president and deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal will be holding a 15-km road show from the Punjabi University to the aviation club. At least 15 small functions are expected to be held to welcome Sukhbir on the route of his road show.

The city will also witness hectic activity owing to the Sikh community’s Nagar Kirtan ahead of the 9th martyrdom anniversary of Sikh guru, Guru Teg Bahadur.

The Nagar Kirtan will also be attended by a huge crowd of devotees as the event is traditionally observed on a much bigger scale in Patiala. Manager of Gurdwara Dukhniwaran Sahib, Bhagwant Singh, said the procession will begin at 11 am from Gurdawara Moti Bagh and reach Dukhniwaran Sahib at 6.30 pm.

Police have, however, dismissed fears that Sukhbir’s cavalcade will pass through the city and overlap with the Nagar Kirtan. They said the road show will be over by 12:30 pm and that the Kirtan will hit the main road much later.

The traffic authorities have issued alternative routes for people travelling in an out of Patiala.

The city already witnessed a sample of chaos on Monday as the heavy inflow of VIP traffic caused jams at several intersections. The local police resorted to manual dispersing of the traffic and to control the crowd.

Several senior ministers of the Cabinet reached Patiala on Monday and took stock of the preparations at the aviation club, where the Sadbhawna rally is being held.

The city has been turned into a fortress with 4,000 security personnel deployed.

AAP to protest outside DC office

The Aam Aadmi Party’s local wing plans to hold a protest outside the DC office to demand action against cabinet minister Tota Singh for his alleged role in the pesticides scam.

The party has also taken a strong exception to defacement of public property by the Akali Dal workers and Congress members, who are festooning the city with posters of their respective parties. AAP’s local convener Balbir Singh accused the administration of turning a blind eye to the gross violations and said they were “complicit in the crime”.